I used to play paintball quite often, but have not since Jenna's birth. Well, this month as a recreational event the unit will be playing. My experience in the past is that Marines are just as newbies as anyone else, because paintball is very different from actual combat. It might bear some resemblance to SWAT-style training when you are playing speedball.

Anyway, I pulled my gun out to do a function check. I have a customized Automag. About the only thing an Automag ever needs is the o-rings replaced. I do have a special bolt system for mine that prevents chopping a ball, which is about the only thing you ever have to play with. That turned out to be a problem (probably due to the o-rings for it being old and I didn't have good replacements). I ended up taking out the bolt and using the stock system, but I did place o-rings on order, because not breaking balls is a big advantage. The bolt is called a "Level-10."

A good thing I found is that paintballs have come down in price. Used to be, a case of decent paint was 2000 was $100, now it is $55.

A bad thing I have found is that my beloved Automags are dying out as markers. The day I went to tune mine up and test fire it, not one other Automag was to be found. Considering there were a number of other high-end markers, more expensive than an Automag, it is not price. Oh, and some of the other markers were having issues. One guy had a brand new Autococker that he had to give up on getting to work. So, what depressed me is that Automags, despite being compact and extremely reliable, are going away while other markers are continuing.

I also still have the gun I used for tournament play between 1993 and 1996, which is a great old VM-EXC by now-defunct Sheridan.

Oh, and I am resisting the lure of the newest Automag which has a new valve system and factory-installed level-10 bolt.

Did you ever give airsoft a shot? It's all I've ever played. One nice thing in airsoft is for $55, you'd get around 20,000 BBs.

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Marines are just as newbies as anyone else, because paintball is very different from actual combat.

Dunno about paintball, but I do think one or two things might carry over to outdoor airsoft. I haven't been in combat so bear with me.

I know some tactics in teamplay are more or less the same, and some people use variant formations. People also like to use hand signals, to keep enemies from overhearing. With airsoft, some aspects of weapon handling carry over. Types of movement and use of stealth and cover somewhat carry over (though I have to say a thick shrub probably wouldn't work as well in real life as it does in airsoft...).

I've also found people getting tunnel vision in airsoft is a major problem (especially with engagement distances normally under 100 feet, meaning flanking can be super fast), and I suspect in real life combat you want to avoid it as well. For me personally, I learned to avoid tunnel vision and be aware of my surroundings from playing first person shooters.

That's really the only thing which carried over in that regard, of course, no matter what Lt. Col. Grossman says.

From what I have seen of airsoft, it is much closer to what you would expect. Probably the best thing this side of using MILES gear. I have never tried it myself, probably because it is not as widespread as paintball.

Some things do carry over, but aiming a paintball gun is very different than a real weapon. Same with hitting your target. Even an accurate paintball gun is probably about on par with a pistol for hitting what you are aiming at. Then you get into understanding how to match paint to barrel, how to get accuracy after breaking a ball in the barrel, and all that. With an M-16, they understand immediate action and you don't have to worry about small paintballs just falling out or having brittle paint. The mechanics are different enough is all.

It will probably be about 20 to 30 of us on that day. It is one of those deals where we contracted for a special event, with them opening the field just for us.

I've been playing paintball for the last seven years or so. I mainly play woodsball, and have never been a fan of speed ball and the such that most people play.

I have a Silver Tippmann 98 Custom with a 17 inch PigSticker barrel that I've had since I first started playing. Back in 2003, we had a hurricane come through the area and completely flood everything. My house was flooded, and eventually torn down. My Tippmann got flooded as well. It still works pretty well today after replacing all of the o-rings and springs inside but it's still not as good as it was before the flood.

About 6 months ago, I bought a JT Recon gun for 40.00 from the local WalMart. It was on clearance and looked like a nice gun. It's Camo and certainly blends in much better than the silver 98 ever did.

I recently bought a J&J Ceramic 16 inch sniper barrel for it, and it's a great gun. It's much more accurate than the 98 was with it's custom barrel. I've found that I go through much less paint with the gun than I did before, mainly due to the accuracy. The recon comes with a handle on the top, which I removed and ended up putting a military grade "red dot" sight in it's place.

As for Airsoft, I've used a bit of it. I actually keep a Glock replica airsoft gun on me at all times while playing paintball. I use the 6mm airsoft paintballs and use the gun as a backup in case my main marker craps out on me. We normally play one shot kills when it comes to the standard paintballs, but 2 shot kills for the 6mm airsoft. The only drawback is that my pistol is not electronic, so I have to cock it for each shot. I've considered getting an electronic airsoft pistol or electronic MP5 but I'd be afraid of chopping balls.

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__________________________________________________________"The greatest medicine in the world is human laughter. And the worst medicine is zombie laughter." -- Jack Handey

A bald man named Savalas visited me last night in a dream. I think it was a Telly vision.

I've been playing paintball for the last seven years or so. I mainly play woodsball, and have never been a fan of speed ball and the such that most people play.

I have a Silver Tippmann 98 Custom with a 17 inch PigSticker barrel that I've had since I first started playing. Back in 2003, we had a hurricane come through the area and completely flood everything. My house was flooded, and eventually torn down. My Tippmann got flooded as well. It still works pretty well today after replacing all of the o-rings and springs inside but it's still not as good as it was before the flood.

About 6 months ago, I bought a JT Recon gun for 40.00 from the local WalMart. It was on clearance and looked like a nice gun. It's Camo and certainly blends in much better than the silver 98 ever did.

I recently bought a J&J Ceramic 16 inch sniper barrel for it, and it's a great gun. It's much more accurate than the 98 was with it's custom barrel. I've found that I go through much less paint with the gun than I did before, mainly due to the accuracy. The recon comes with a handle on the top, which I removed and ended up putting a military grade "red dot" sight in it's place.

As for Airsoft, I've used a bit of it. I actually keep a Glock replica airsoft gun on me at all times while playing paintball. I use the 6mm airsoft paintballs and use the gun as a backup in case my main marker craps out on me. We normally play one shot kills when it comes to the standard paintballs, but 2 shot kills for the 6mm airsoft. The only drawback is that my pistol is not electronic, so I have to cock it for each shot. I've considered getting an electronic airsoft pistol or electronic MP5 but I'd be afraid of chopping balls.

If you're using 6mm paintballs, you're pretty much stuck with single shot springer pistols. Those are the only guns cheap enough that I'd personally ever consider using the things, and anything more powerful than them will shatter the paintballs instantly.

There are a few new guns that use a paintball roughly half the size of a standard paintball in realistic looking guns which work using magazines instead of hoppers, but they haven't really taken off yet. Can't remember the company who makes them though, but it would be neat if it took off.

Considering what I have seen, the honor system is one of the reasons that Airsoft will never become too popular. If you hit me, I will call myself out. However, I cannot count the number of times (in open play) that I hit someone, see the paint appear on them, and they duck away to wipe. I have even watched them wipe. Me and those people often have a problem at the end of the game. Sometimes, I get asked to leave, sometimes the cheater does.

Another reason I miss my EXC was that it was solid and had a steel handguard. During an argument, one guy put his barrel on my neck. I warned him not to shoot me. He fired. I had trouble swallowing for a day or two and a heck of a bruise. I immediately swung a buttstroke and hit him in the temple with the handguard and he went down. Some people were afraid I had killed him at first.

Another reason I miss my EXC was that it was solid and had a steel handguard. During an argument, one guy put his barrel on my neck. I warned him not to shoot me. He fired. I had trouble swallowing for a day or two and a heck of a bruise. I immediately swung a buttstroke and hit him in the temple with the handguard and he went down. Some people were afraid I had killed him at first.

Man, that is seriously brutal. I can't imagine being shot that close, especially on the neck.

The guy got exactly what he deserved.

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__________________________________________________________"The greatest medicine in the world is human laughter. And the worst medicine is zombie laughter." -- Jack Handey

A bald man named Savalas visited me last night in a dream. I think it was a Telly vision.

Considering what I have seen, the honor system is one of the reasons that Airsoft will never become too popular. If you hit me, I will call myself out. However, I cannot count the number of times (in open play) that I hit someone, see the paint appear on them, and they duck away to wipe. I have even watched them wipe. Me and those people often have a problem at the end of the game. Sometimes, I get asked to leave, sometimes the cheater does.

Another reason I miss my EXC was that it was solid and had a steel handguard. During an argument, one guy put his barrel on my neck. I warned him not to shoot me. He fired. I had trouble swallowing for a day or two and a heck of a bruise. I immediately swung a buttstroke and hit him in the temple with the handguard and he went down. Some people were afraid I had killed him at first.

Honor system is occasionally a problem in airsoft, can't lie about that. It leads to airsoft being a bit more inclusive I think, but it is not as bad of a problem as you might imagine. You mostly just have to avoid playing with young people and huge a***oles. It is frustrating when you know you hit someone at very long range, but they honestly don't feel it though, I have to say (doesn't happen a huge amount, but still).

I still keep my modified spyder around even though I haven't played in years. I also have an old pump gun that took 10 ball tube feeds and 3 gram C02 whippets. There was once upon a time a company in the woods of North Carolina that only allowed these kinds of markers. No autocockers, no rapid fire, just shoot-pump-shoot.

Speedball was a little too fast for me, but it seems today that it is the only form of commercial paintball. I much preferred the woodsball. Playing on a field a couple of acres large with forts was great. You all had a fair chance, even those people rushing the forts because once you got inside, you could take those closeup shots you earned by penetrating the defenses. It got really exciting once you started learning the courses and could treat the field like a chess game with properly places shooters, decoys, cover fire, etc...

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I prefer to play woodsball myself. The place we are playing at has 3 different wooded fields, one of them with a central fort.

Kept a Tracer that I had for years, just to play in the pump-only leagues. They were a lot of fun and a well maintained Tracer is pretty darn accurate. Also, on my one team (Penguin Lust was the name) we had a guy named T.J. His gun was a Spyder with a couple of upgrades, including a crazy 16 or 18 inch barrel. That thing was amazingly quiet, we would call it the "gnat fart." Having a quiet gun can be a big advantage in woodsball.

A couple of years back, when Paintballing wasn't readily available in this state, we went on a trip to the border, camped out for a couple of days, and had a day of paintballing.

Loads of fun, especially with friends. And yes they can hurt pretty bad depending on how close you fire them. Funniest moment of that day was watching two of my friends, on opposite teams, run onto either side of a hay bale without realising the other was on the other side of it. They both popped out at the same time, and one of my mates reacted really quickly by shooting my friend in the thigh from about 4 feet away. He had a killer of a bruise, but more importantly, we had a good laugh at his expense.